While big cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago might appeal to some, that small-town charm can be a pretty big draw for others.
All Star Homes, a roofing, siding and gutter company, ranked the best hometowns in America, analyzing the cities with a population of less than 100,000. To determine the ranking, the cities were scored across four key metrics on a 100-point scale:
- Community
- Safety
- Affordable living
- Education
Sources for the ranking also included Zillow Home Values, the National Center for Education Statistics, FBI Crime Data Explorer, U.S. Census Bureau, the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Park Service.
Smaller cities in New York reigned supreme, taking five of the top 10 spots.
No. 1 small city/town in the U.S.: Elmira, New York
Overall score: 75 out of 100
Elmira, New York, is in the southern tier of New York, which means it is just a short distance north of the Pennsylvania state line.
The New York town had the following scores in the ranking:
- Community score: 43
- Safety: 80.9
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 16.49
The median home list price in Elmira was $126,000 in July 2023, up 20.6% from the previous year, and the median price per square foot was $81, according to Rocket Homes.
Elmira, New York, is also the resting place of famed author Mark Twain. The town still has the study that Twain reportedly wrote some of his most famous works, including "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," according to The Mark Twain House and Museum.
Top 10 small cities/towns in the U.S.
- Elmira, N.Y.
- Corning, N.Y.
- Utica, N.Y.
- Binghamton, N.Y.
- Hattiesburg, Miss.
- Bowling Green, KY and Hannibal, M.O. (tie)
- Charlottesville, Va., Greenwood, Miss., Watertown, N.Y. (tie)
- Meridian, Miss. and Saint Joseph, M.O. (tie)
- Steubenville, Ohio
- Quincy, Ill.
Corning, New York, which comes in second on the list, is best known as the headquarters of Fortune 500 company Corning Incorporated, a manufacturer of glass and ceramic products whose clients include Apple.
The New York city is also home to the Corning Museum of Glass, which houses one of the world's largest collections of glass objects.
In Corning, The average Corning home value is $151,198, up 0.9% over the past year, according to Zillow.
The third that ranked city is Utica, also in New York state. Utica, New York, had an overall score of 71.
According to the report, just like the other New York cities in the top four, Utica had a large number of farmer's markets within 30 miles, a 66% diversity ranking and relatively affordable home values.
According to Zillow, the average Utica home value is $172,350, up 4.5% over the past year.
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